Fahire Battalgazi

Fahire Battalgil (1902 - 1948) was a Turkish ichthyologist who was one of the first women to be appointed as a professor at a university in Turkey. She is credited as being the first Turkish scientist (male or female) to have made significant impacts in the zoological field of ichthyology and freshwater fish biodiversity. She is credited with naming and describing at least 30 species of freshwater fish endemic to Turkey.

Name Battalgil was known as Fahire Akim Hanim during the early part of her life. The surname Battalgil was adopted by her family to comply with the Republic of Turkey's 1934 Surname Law , which required using consistent, Turkish surnames, and the spelling of Battalgil was changed to Battalgazi from 1943.

Early life Battalgil was given the name Fahire Akim Hanim at her birth Istanbul either in 1902 or 1905 as there is discrepancy within reliable historical records. At this school, she learned the speak French and Arabic fluently. She died due to complications during a brain surgery on 20 February 1948 in Istanbul and is buried in Kılıçali Yahya Efendi family cemetery in Beşiktaş.

Legacy Battalgil was an important figure in Turkish ichthyology discovering and describing a number of new species of freshwater fish to science. Examples include Alburnus adanensis, Barbus oligolepis, Pseudophoxinus caralis and Squalius cephaloides.

Taxon named in her honor

Species named in honor of Battalgil include

Cobitis fahireae Phoxinellus fahirae Alburnus battalgilae Cobitis battalgili Turcichondrostoma fahirae (previously Chrondrostoma fahirae) Psuedophoxinus battalgilae Gobio battalgilae

Publications This is an incomplete list of publications:

1940 Eine neue Cyprinidenart [Yeni bir Cyprinid nev'i], Revue de la Faculté des Sciences de l'Université d'Istanbul, Série B: Sciences Naturelles, 5 (1–2): 74-77 (1–4). 1941 Les poissons des eaux douces de la Turquie [Türkiye'nin tatlısu balıkları], Revue de la Faculté des Sciences de l'Université d'Istanbul, Série B: Sciences Naturelles, 6 (1–2): 170–186. 1944. Türkiye'de yeni tath su bahklari. Nouveau poissons des eaux douces de la Turquie. Revue de la Faculté des Sciences de l'Université d'Instanbul, Série B: Sciences Naturelles, 9(2) : 126–133

Taxon described by her See :Category:Taxa named by Fahire Battalgil